Abstract
In this paper a new concept for modeling uneven-aged forests (UEAF) is presented. The term UEAF in this article encloses all forests that deviate from the even-aged structure. The matrix model is area-based, in that the forest under study is described by a distribution of areas over fixed state-spaces spanned by stem number and volume per hectare classes. Dynamics is introduced as transitions of areas inside the state-space during the simulation. Harvesting activities and the occurrence of calamities are explicitly handled. The model is designed to be suitable for large-scale analyses. The concept was tested in an application to Austrian National Forest Inventory (NFI) data. Results shown, including a comparison to older inventory data, indicate that it is worth further elaborating on the concept and the model. The work will be continued and in the next step the model concept will be applied in several other countries.
Highlights
IntroductionOn single-stand-level numerous, normally diameter class or individual tree equation based, models have been developed and applied [1,2,3] (Chapter 15)
When aiming for a forest analysis on European level, it is essential to handle the even-aged forests common in Northern Europe as well as the multistoried, uneven-aged forest of Central and Southern Europe.Most large-scale forest models meet challenges when trying to model the dynamics of uneven-aged forests.On single-stand-level numerous, normally diameter class or individual tree equation based, models have been developed and applied [1,2,3] (Chapter 15)
It should be underlined that EFDM is not a stand-level model—It is a model for National Forest Inventory (NFI)-plots that could be interpreted as a forest-level model
Summary
On single-stand-level numerous, normally diameter class or individual tree equation based, models have been developed and applied [1,2,3] (Chapter 15). Sometimes through the diameter distribution range; for example, if the range is more than three consecutive 4–5 cm diameter classes, stands are classified as uneven-aged [4,5]. Hanewinkel et al [6] even introduce an index of “closeness to a J-shaped distribution” because the diameter distribution of an uneven-aged forest is typically assumed to be reverse-J shaped. All the definitions agree that in uneven-aged forests the sizes of trees vary and, tree size is a more relevant characteristic of a forest stand than age [4,7,8]
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